Panty hose garment and the method of making the same



June .1969 A. FILLMORE ET AL 3,449,932

PANTY HOSE GARMENT AND THE METHOD OF MAKING- THE SAME Filed Feb. 26.1968 Sheet of s INVENTORS Lela/val F$4M0R BY Was/M H30 r4 ER ray y: rs

June 1969 A. FILLMORE ETAL 3,449,932

PANTY HOSE GARMENT AND THE METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Sheet 4 013 FiledFeb. 26. 1968 8 5 z M -1 6 L mm 3 MI I! W 5 a 2 w 2 w a a 6 1?; 0 3 a 4z w a a can/ff. 30 1'4 5/? M 9 ML 77 01905 Ks" United States Patent US.Cl. 66177 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specificationdiscloses improvements in the method of making panty hose garmentswherein two stockings are knitted, slit adjacent their upper portionsand seamed together in which a highly stylized panty portion of a densercontrasting visual appearance than the hose or leg portions is formed inthe stockings during the knitting thereof by adding and deleting one ormore yarns within selected courses contained within a juncture areabetween the panty portion and each leg portion, each juncture areaextending over a multiplicity of courses contained in part in the pantyportion and in part in the associated leg portion.

This invention relates to ladies knit garments and more particularly toa combination stocking and panty garment, commonly referred to as pantyhose, and to improvements in the method of making the same.

The commercial panty hose garments heretofore produced have beengenerally of two types; the first being panty hose wherein the entiregarment is substantially of uniform density giving the same overallvisual appearance throughout; and the second being a panty hose whereinthere is a contrast in appearance between the panty portion and the legportions of the garment by reason of differences in density. The presentinvention is concerned with improvements in panty hose of the secondtype.

With respect to panty hose of this type, heretofore a contrastingappearance between the panty portion and leg portions of the garment hasbeen obtained by knitting a conventional welt or after-welt in the upperportions of the stockings used to make the garment. In the subsequentassembly of the garment, slits are cut in the welt portions and theslits are seamed together usually with a separate crotch piecetherebetween at least adjacent the crotch area.

The welts knitted into the stockings, being denser than the remaininglower portions of the stockings, thus serve to delineate the pantyportion from the leg portions in the finally formed garment. The area ofdelineation, which presents the contrast in appearance, with garments ofthis type is along a number of courses equal to the number of feeds inthe machines utilized to knit the stockings. For all practical purposesthe line of demarcation when the garment is worn is contained generallywithin a horizontal plane. With panty hose constructed in this fashion,the contrasting appearance of the panty portion is inherently limited indesign, as, for example, to a simple horizontal line of demarcation.conventionally, the denser panty portion in a garment of this typeincludes a panty body which extends downwardly a short distance onto theleg of the wearer, the contrast in density presenting an appearancesimilar to that provided by the welts of conventional ladies hose.

Where it is desired to provide a panty hose garment with a panty portionof a different design, as, for example, a panty portion cut high at thesides in a style similar to a bikini panty, the practice heretofore hasbeen to separately knit the panty structure, cut conventionally knittedhose sections to match the panty structure, and then to sew the pantystructure to the hose sections. In this way, the line of demarcationbetween the panty structure and the hose sections could be made toextend over a substantially greater number of courses in the hosesections than the number of feeds of the machines with configurationswhich can be varied by the cutting operation. A garment of this type,while presenting a desirable appearance, as compared with the firstmentioned garment, has the disadvantage of a greater cost ofmanufacture. This greater cost results from the necessity to separatelyknit the panty portion, to cut the hose portions and to sew the sametogether as distinguished from the simpler and more economical slit andseam assembly procedures.

An object of the present invention is to provide a panty hoseconstruction which obtains the advantages of low cost and high stylingof both types of conventional garments mentioned above, whileeliminating the disadvantages of each.

The present invention is directed to a procedure for obtaining acontrasting appearance between the panty portion and the leg portions ofa panty hose garment over a juncture area of a substantially greaternumber of courses than the number of feeds of the machine without thenecessity of separately forming a panty portion, cutting the hoseportions and sewing the same together. This result is obtained by addingand deleting one or more yarns within selected courses in the juncturearea during the knitting of the stockings used to make the panty hose.With this procedure the panty hose may be finally assembled by the moreeconomical slitting and seaming procedures heretofore utilized.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pantyhose garment formed of two stockings slit and seamed together in which adenser highly styled panty portion is delineated from less dense legportions by adding and deleting one or more yarns within selectedcourses of the stockings utilized to make the panty hose throughout ajuncture area extending over a multiplicity of courses.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedprocedure for making panty hose garments of th etype described in whichone or more yarns are added and deleted within selected courses ofstockings during the knitting thereof, which stockings are subsequentlyslit and seamed together to form panty hose having a highly stylizedpanty design of contrasting appearance to the leg portions of thegarment.

These and other objects of the present invention will become moreapparent during the course of the following detailed description andappended claims.

The invention can best be understood with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein illustrative embodiments are shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a panty hose garment embodyingthe principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the garment shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded view illustrating the component part of thegarment prior to assembly;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the garment in partiallyassembled condition;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged photographic view of a portion of the garmentwithin the circle shown in FIG- URE 3, illustrating the contrastingvisual appearance and density of the panty portion with respect to theadjacent portion of the garment and one embodiment of a highly stylizeddesign of the line of demarcation therebetween; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 illustrating another embodimentof a highly stylized design of the line of demarcation between the pantyportion and a leg portion of the garment.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown inFIGURES 1 and 2 a, panty hose garment, generally indicated at 10,embodying the principles of the present invention. The garment 10 ismade up essentially of four pieces or parts including a pair of stockingparts 12 and 14, a crotch piece or part 16, and an elastic waistbandpart 18. The present invention is more particularly concerned with theprocedures for making the stocking parts 12 and 14 and the constructionof the finally assembled garment resulting from these procedures. Ingeneral, the manner in which the stocking parts, once knitted inaccordance with the principles of the present invention, aresubsequently processed and assembled with the crotch piece andwaistband, is of a conventional nature.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, eachstocking part 12 and 14 is knitted separately, preferably on aconventional circular knitting machine, as, for example, a Mark IVknitting machine, which is a 4-feed, 400 needle machine with suctiondrawdown. Each stocking part 12 and 14 is knitted with a foot portion 20which is adapted to cover a foot of the wearer. Each foot portion isknitted in conventional fashion, that is, the toe of the foot portionmay be closed in any conventional manner, such as sewing or looping, andthe heel of the foot portion may be knitted either as a reciprocatedheel or a non-reciprocated heel. The mesh used in the heel and toe areasof the foot portion 20 may be of any conventional construction as can bethe remaining areas. Likewise, any conventional yarn or yarns may beutilized in knitting the foot portion 20, including monofilament ormultifilament yarns of any desired denier and material.

Each stocking part 12 and 14 is knitted to include a leg portion 22which extends continuously upwardly from the foot portion 20 and whichfunctions to cover the leg of the wearer. Here again, each leg portionis knitted utilizing any conventional mesh and any conventional yarn oryarns including monofilament or multifilamet yarns of any desired denierand material. Final- 1y, each stocking part 12 and 14 is knitted toinclude an upper portion 24 which extends continuously upwardly from theleg portion 22 to a length sufficient to extend approximately to thewaist area of the wearer.

In the preferred embodiment shown, the upper portion 24 of each stockingpart 12 and 14 includes a juncture area extending over a multiplicity ofcourses, as, for example, approximately 764 courses in the preferredembodiment shown. The knitting of each upper portion 24 in the juncturearea is an essential feature of the present invention. In the juncturearea one or more yarns are knitted into and cut out of selected coursesthereof so as to form in the juncture area a design by virtue ofdifferences in density which, when the stocking parts are assembled intoa completed garment, define a line of demarcation, indicated by thenumeral 26, between a denser panty portion of the garment, indicatedgenerally by the numeral 28, and the less dense associated leg portions22 of the garment.

In the particular embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-5, the line ofdemarcation 26 defines a pantry portion 28 which is high cut at thesides simulating the cut of a bikini panty. Also, as shown, the highestpoint of each line of demarcation is somewhat below the upper extremityof the associated upper portion 24, but it will be understood that theline of demarcation could extend to the upper extremity and that anydesirable design may :be provided to define the panty portion inaccordance with the principles of the present invention. For example, inthe embodiment shown, a line of demarcation could be formed in coursesextending about the juncture area, as, for example, to define a low cutwaist line of demarcation.

The manner in which the upper portion of each stocking part 12 and 14 isknitted and particularly the juncture area thereof will now be describedin relation to the particular embodiment disclosed in FIGURES 1-5.

As previously mentioned, the preferred machine on which the stockingparts are knitted is a 4-feed 400 needle circular knitting machine.Preferably with the use of this machine, the knitting precedes from theend of the upper portion 24 to the end of the foot portion 20, althoughthe reverse direction may be utilized. The upper portion 24 of eachstocking part is initially knitted with a jersey stitch mesh utilizingas yarn in the 4-feeds respectively, (1) a one end 20 denier Z torquemonofilament nylon and a one end 2/ 30 superloft yarn (2) a one end 20denier S torque monofilament nylon, (3) a one end 20 denier Z torquemonofilament nylon and a one end 2/30 superloft, and (4) a one end 20denier S torque monofilament nylon. When the juncture area of the upperportion 24 is reached in the operation of the machine, the one end 2/ 30superloft yarn is knitted in and cut out of alternate courses throughoutthe juncture area. Preferably, this adding and deleting of yarns in theselected courses is accomplished by utilizing the adjustments andmechanisms in the Mark IV machine which are utilized in knitting areinforced heel. It will be understood that while a single yarn is addedand deleted to alternate courses in the particular embodiment of FIGURES1-5, it is within the contemplation of the present invention to add anddelete one or more than one yarn in all of the courses within thejuncture area or within any selected number of courses less than all,either in a regular sequence, as with alternating courses, or in arandom sequence. The selected courses having yarn added and deleted,however, must be sufficient to present a contrasting appearance to thepanty portion 28 and to delineate the line of demarcation 26.

It will also be understood that while it is preferred to delete theadded yarn by cutting out the yarn as the stocking part is knitted, itis within the contemplation of the present invention to float theportions of the added yarns to be deleted and to subsequently cut outthe floated portions. It is, of course, preferable to delete the yarnsby cutting during the knitting process since this is more economicalthan to utilize a subsequent cutting action after the stocking part hasbeen knitted. Alternatively, it may be desinable to effect deletion bycutting during knitting in some courses while utilizing subsequentcutting in other courses. The desirability of performing either or bothof these cutting operations for a given stocking will be dictatedsomewhat by the intricacy of the design of the line of demarcation 26.

Each line of demarcation 26, as shown in FIGURES 1-5, is of a steppeddesign which extends upwardly and outwardly from the crotch area in bothfront and back to define a highly stylized panty portion 28 which ishigh cut at the sides. This configuration is formed in the juncture areaafter first knitting a narrow conventional welt, as indicated at 30, anda predetermined number of courses down, to the juncture area utilizingan added yarn in alternate courses as previously described. The steppeddesign is begun by deleting a portion of the added yarn (i.e. the oneend 2/30 superloft yarn) at a position intermediate the front and back.Thus, during the knitting of the first 16 courses of the juncture area(four revolutions of the machine) 16 less needles are utilized adjacentthe hip area (i.e., intermediate the front and back) thus knitting withthe first 16 courses additional yarns in eight courses extendingthroughout all but 16 wales, the additional yarns being deleted, as bycutting, in the aforesaid 16 wales of the alternate eight courses. Inthe next 16 courses, eight less needles of each side of the initial 16needles are utilized in conjunction with the added yarns so that thereis included within the next 16 courses added yarns in eight coursesextending over all but 32 wales symmetrical to the 16 deleted wales ofthe first 16 courses, the added yarns being deleted, as by cutting, fromthe aforesaid 32 wales of the second 16 courses. This procedure issimply repeated by lessening the knitting of the added yarn in theselected courses by eight wales on each side until the additional yarnis no longer included in any of the wales. When the added yarn isdeleted within all of the wales, the lowermost point of the line ofdemarcation is defined. In the particular embodiment shown, the parts ofall of the courses within the juncture area contained within the pantyportion are knitted with a standard jersey stitch while the remainingparts are knitted with a tuck stitch mesh as is the remainder of theassociated leg portion '22.

While it is, of course, desirable that the parts of the courses withinthe juncture area outside of the panty portion be of the same mesh asthe leg portions 22, the panty portion may be of the same or differentmesh.

It will also be understood that while it is greatly preferred to knitthe stocking parts 12 and 14 with a seamless construction on a circularknitting machine by reason of cost and style considerations, theprinciples of the .present invention can be applied to the knitting ofseamed stocking parts of full fashion knitting machines.

The design of the line of demarcation 26 in the embodiment shown inFIGURE 5 is broken into fairly Well defined steps. In FIGURE 6, there isshown an alternative embodiment presenting a line of demarcation 32 morenearly simulating a smooth line characterized by a greater number ofsmaller steps than shown in FIGURE 5. The FIGURE 6 embodiment is knittedin a manner similar to the FIGURE 5 embodiment except that each step isdefined by eight courses and three wales rather than 16 courses andeight wales.

After two stocking parts 12 and 14 have been knitted in the manner setforth above, the stocking parts are sized by the horizontal stretchmethod utilizing a Jones machine. Next, the toe areas of both stockingparts are closed by any conventional means, such as sewing a tailoredtoe.

It will be understood that where the heel area of the stocking part isof non-reciprocated construction, the stocking parts 12 and 14 can bemade on the same circular knitting machine utilizing the same settings.Under these circumstances, after the stocking parts have been knittedand further processed in the manner described above, each islongitudinally slit, as indicated at 34, within the upper portion 24thereof at a position intermediate the front and rear thereof inalignment with the position of the lowermost extent of the panty portionand to an extent substantially down to the lowermost extent of the pantyportion. The slitting of the stocking parts is accomplished in anyconventional fashion, as, for example, by utilizing conventionalequipment such as an Eastman Chickadee machine. Also, in accordance withconventional practice, a tuck mark (not shown) is preferably formedduring the knitting of the stocking parts to accurately locate the lowertermination of the slits.

It will be noted that in subsequently assembling the garments, the slits34 are opened and secured together in a relationship generally facingone another. Thus, in the completed garment 10, the stocking part 12 isreversed front to back with respect to the stocking part 14. Byutilizing a non-reciprocated heel, the shape of which is subsequentlyformed under heat and pressure, no orientation problem is encountered inthe reversal of the stocking parts during assembly. It will beunderstood, however, that where a reciprocated heel construction isutilized, it is necessary to separately knit right and left-handstocking parts 12 and 14 in order to provide proper orientation of theheel construction in the finished garment.

In securing together the slits 32 of the two stocking parts, it ispreferable to utilize the crotch part 16 previously described, although,it is Within the contemplation of the present invention to sew the slits32 directly together by a common seam.

Preferably the crotch part 1 6 is knitted on a full-fashioned knittingmachine utilizing the same mesh and yarns as the panty portion 28. Thecrotch part 16, as shown, is in the shape generally of a mans tie,although, it will be understood that other shapes may be utilized, as,for example, a conventional diamond shape or the like. Alternatively,the crotch part 16 may be cut from a tube knitted on a circular knittingmachine with the same mesh and yarns as the panty portion 28. After theknitting of the tube has been completed, it is heat pressed and then cutto the desired configuration. A fashioned crotch part is preferablebecause the edge of the subsequently formed seam is selvedged duringassembly and because there is no Wasted yarn as is the case when thecrotch part is cut from a seamless tube.

With the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-5, after both stocking parts 12and 14 have been slit, as indicated at 34, they then go to a seam sewerwho sews one complete side of the crotch part 16, as by a seam 36, to anextent of the slit 32 adjacent the crotch area and rearwardly of the oneof the stocking parts, as, for example, part 14 as shown in FIGURE 4.The front extent of both slits 32 of both stocking parts are then sewntogether, as by common seam 38, as shown in FIGURE 4. Finally, the otherside of the crotch part 16 is sewn to the slit 32 of the stocking part12, as by a seam 40, to within about 4" of the top edge.

The garment thus assembled is then sent to the blind stitch machineoperator who attaches the elastic waistband part 18 to the narrow welts30 of the stocking parts 12 and 14. The waistband part 18 is of anyconventional construction, a preferred embodiment being 4:" wovenelastic, type 6 nylon, United Elastic Company Style No. 3-4307-WR5/ 8.After the waistband part 18 has been attached, the garment is thenreturned to the closure operator, using a Merrow machine, who sews thelast 4" of the crotch part 16 to the slit 32 of the stocking part 12,closing the two ends of the waistband part 18 in the same operation.

The completely assembled panty hose garment is then steamed in a Lydonbox at F. at atmospheric pressure for 30 minutes and then dyed. Afterthe dying operation the garment is then boarded in a Turbo Boardingmachine where the garment is treated at 235 F. for 30 seconds at maximumsteam. A 2 /2 minute drying cycle is allowed to insure that the garmentis dried sufiiciently before stripping. It will be understood that otherconventional processes may be utilized, as, for example, conventionalpreboarding procedures.

It will thus be seen that the objects of this invention have been fullyand effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that theforegoing specific embodiment has been shown and described only for thepurpose of illustrating the principles of this invention and is subjectto extensive change without departure from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A panty hose garment comprising a pair of knitted stocking parts eachhaving a foot portion for covering a foot of a wearer, a leg portion forcovering a leg of the wearer, and an upper portion, said upper portionsbeing longitudinally slit intermediate the front and rear thereof, meansfor securing the upper portions of said stocking parts together alongthe slits thereof with each of the latter opened and facing toward theother to provide an assembly for covering the remainder of the wearer upto approximately the waist, said assembly including a panty portion of adensity greater than the density of said leg portions so as to provide acontrasting visual effect between the panty portion and said legportions, the contrasting visual effect between said panty portion andeach of said leg portions being defined within a juncture areacomprising a multiplicity of knitted courses each of which is containedin part within said panty portion, each of said juncture areas havingadditional yarn means knitted with selected courses thereof within theparts thereof contained within said panty portion, said additional yarnmeans being cut out of the remaining parts of said selected courses soas to define a line of demarcation of contrasting density andpredetermined highly stylized design between said panty portion and theassociated leg portions.

2. A panty hose garment as defined in claim 1 wherein said selectedcourses comprise alternate courses within said juncture areas.

3. A panty hose garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the line ofdemarcation of each juncture area is of stepped design extendinggenerally upwardly and outwardly from the crotch area in both the frontand back so as to define a panty portion presenting high cut sides.

4. A panty hose garment as defined in claim 1 wherein said securingmeans comprises a separately knitted crotch piece disposed between apredetermined extent of said slits at least adjacent the crotch area, aseam securing said crotch piece to the predetermined extent of each slitand a common seam securing the remaining extent of said slits directlytogether.

5. A panty hose garment as defined in claim 1 wherein each of saidstocking parts is of seamless knit construction.

6. A panty hose garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the parts of thecourses within said juncture areas outside of said panty portion are ofa knitted mesh the same as the knitted mesh of said leg portions butdifferent from the knitted mesh of the parts of said courses within saidpanty portion.

7. In a method of making a panty hose garment in which a pair ofstocking parts are separately knitted so as to form a foot portion forcovering a foot of a wearer, a leg portion for covering a leg of awearer and an upper portion, each stocking part is longitudinally slitin its upper portion intermediate the front and rear thereof and theslit stockings are secured together along the slits with each of thelatter opened and facing toward the other to provide an assembly forcovering the remainder of the wearer up to approximately the waist, theimprovement which comprises the step of knitting and cutting outadditional yarn means with selected courses during the knitting of amultiplicity of courses within the upper portion of each stocking partto thereby form a juncture area within the upper portion of eachstocking part presenting a contrasting visual effect due to change indensity along a line of demarcation of predetermined design, the line ofdemarcation serving to define the lower extremities of a highly stylizedpanty portion of contrasting visual eifect in the assembled garment.

8. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein said additional yarn means iscut out during the knitting of said selected courses.

9. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein a single additional yarn isknitted and cut out in said selected courses.

10. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein said selected courses arealternate courses.

11. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein said stocking parts areknitted on a circular knitting machine.

12. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein each of a pair of stockingparts is knitted in a similar manner with a non-reciprocated heel in thefoot portion thereof, the stocking parts being oppositely oriented withrespect to the front and back in the assembled garment, but with thenon-reciprocated heels of both in proper orientation in the back of thefoot portions.

13. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein a predetermined extent ofsaid slits are secured together by seaming a separately knitted crotchpiece therebetween at least adjacent the crotch area of the garment andthe remaining extent of the slits are secured together by seaming themdirectly together. I

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,641 3/1890 Scott 66-1771,955,422. 4/1934 Hecker 66182 2,002,888 5/1935 Gastrich 66-1822,697,925 12/1954 Goodman 66-477 3,344,621 10/ 1967 Gilchrist 2 -4224 XRFOREIGN PATENTS 361,257 5/ 1962 Switzerland.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner.

. US. Cl. X.R. 2224, 239

